Wednesday, November 19, 2008 5:54 AM EST
By William Kaempffer, Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — The city and Fire Department union reached a "last chance" agreement for a city firefighter just days before the Board of Fire Commissioners was scheduled to vote on whether to fire him.
That vote this week was pre-empted, and Matthew Kennedy, a 13-year veteran, is back on the job after finishing a six-month, unpaid suspension imposed in May after he jumped from a fire ambulance downtown and angrily confronted his estranged wife and her divorce attorney. Two subsequent arrests on domestic-related charges put him in jeopardy of losing his job.
"The city and union came to this agreement and the city is pleased with the resolution, because discipline is meant to be corrective in nature and we think this resolution should address the concerns that the city has," said city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga. When asked why the reversal of position — last month the fire chief and a city-hired attorney argued for Kennedy's termination — Mayorga only said, "All parties thought at the end of the day that this was the best resolution."
The last chance agreement is this: If Kennedy were to violate the city's workplace violence policy in the next two years, he could be fired. If convicted of a crime of violence in the next two years, he would be fired immediately.
Patrick Egan, fire union president, said Kennedy deserves to be able to move on with his professional and personal life. Egan described him as a firefighter who, with the exception of this situation, has worked "without issue" as a "good employee who served the citizens of New Haven and protected their lives."
He likewise said the resolution served everyone's interests.
"There are a lot of complex issues that go into cases, especially when you're looking at the death penalty of employment, which is termination," he said.
Fire Chief Michael Grant and Fire Commission Chairman Bill Celentano Tuesday both said they were consulted in advance and support the agreement.
For now, Kennedy is at the training division getting refresher courses. After taking vacation days guaranteed by union contract, he will be assigned back in the firehouse to Truck 4, Grant said.
Kennedy's problems stem from a bitter divorce. He was arrested in March for the on-duty incident that occurred in the heart of the city's entertainment district on a Friday night. He since was arrested twice in off-duty incidents, in April and July, for violating a protective order involving his estranged wife. In 2007, he was arrested in Hamden in another domestic incident.
The cases are pending in Superior Court.
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